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Anthony Pettis
Anthony "Showtime" Pettis is the former UFC lightweight champion and the former and final WEC lightweight champion. He has also competed at lightweight and now at featherweight for the UFC. Winning the WEC Title He most recently defeated Shane Roller via triangle in a dominant fight with ten seconds left. He next fought Ben Henderson for the WEC title at the final WEC event, defeating him via unanimous decision in an amazing fight. The fight featured a kick dubbed the 'Showtime Kick', where Anthony ran up the side of the cage and dropped Henderson with a kick seemingly out of a Matrix movie. Pettis was next set to make his UFC debut fighting for the lightweight title against either Frank Edgar or Gray Maynard. Instead, Edgar and Maynard fought to an extremely controversial split draw in their rematch at UFC 125 for the title. Dana White nixed the title shot that he had handed to Pettis and gave Maynard an immediate rematch. Entering the UFC Pettis wasn't willing to wait, and he signed to fight fellow contender Clay Guida for his UFC debut. Guida defeated Pettis via an upset unanimous decision. Pettis next faced fellow hard-hitting contender Jeremy Stephens, defeating Stephens via a competitive split decision in which he showcased improved grappling ability after the tough loss to Guida. After the fight, Pettis called out consistent contender Joe Lauzon. Lauzon accepted the challenge. Pettis knocked out Lauzon very quickly with a high kick and then called out new UFC lightweight champion Ben Henderson for a rematch. Henderson responded by ducking Pettis. Aldo Negotiations A disappointed Pettis next considered dropping down a weight class to 145 pounds to challenge UFC featherweight champion and P4P great Jose Aldo. Instead he next signed to face WEC rival Donald Cerrone in early 2013. Pettis defeated Cerrone via first round technical knockout with a brutal kick to the ribs, earning Knockout of the Night honors. After the fight, UFC president Dana White confirmed that Pettis would face the winner of the title unification bout between Ben Henderson and Strikeforce lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez. Pettis also texted Dana White after Jose Aldo scraped by defending the UFC featherweight championship against former UFC lightweight champion Frank Edgar. The text message read: "I want to drop to 145 and fight Jose Aldo." White claimed that it was a big possibility. Either way Pettis has received a title shot in either division he chooses. Pettis was confirmed to be dropping down to featherweight to fight Aldo for the title in August 2013. The fight would take place in the capital of Aldo's home country of Brazil: Rio de Janeiro, a rather large venue for the UFC. Winning the UFC Title Instead Pettis was injured and replaced against Aldo by Chang Sung Jung. Pettis recovered quickly, moving back up to lightweight for his 155 title shot. He replaced injured TJ Grant against rival and UFC lightweight champion Ben Henderson. The fight would be a rematch of their memorable 2010 scrap as the final fight of the WEC. Pettis defeated Henderson via first round armbar submission to become the UFC lightweight champion. He suffered another knee injury and the bout but again called out Jose Aldo after the bout, though TJ Grant still waited in the wings. The Champ Is Here Indeed Pettis was confirmed to next defend his title for the first time against Grant sometime in early 2014. The fight was switched to December 2013 but unfortunately Grant was very quickly reinjured and replaced by former Strikeforce lightweight champion Josh Thomson. Pettis himself was then injured and said to be probably out for the majority of 2014 although a superfight with Jose Aldo was again discussed. In February 2014 it was announced that Pettis would defend his title later in 2014 against former Strikeforce lightweight champion Gilbert Melendez after coaching opposite him in the twentieth season of The Ultimate Fighter reality show. Pettis defeated Melendez via an impressive second round guillotine choke submission, the first time that Melendez had been submitted in his career. Losing the Title and Losing Streak Pettis next defended his title for the second time against Rafael Dos Anjos. Dos Anjos dominated Pettis en route to a lopsided unanimous decision. Pettis next fought former Bellator lightweight champ Eddie Alvarez and was outwrestled en route to a close and possibly, slightly controversial decision. A frustrated Pettis then signed to face striker Edson Barboza who outstruck him en route to a clear unanimous decision. Overdue Drop to 145 Pounds A month or two after the Barboza loss Pettis decided it was finally time to drop to the featherweight division in June 2016, stating that he hoped to make his debut there by August of that year. In mid June 2016 Pettis did sign to make his featherweight debut against contender Charles Oliveira. After a back-and-forth contest Pettis put on a late surge of activity submitting the jiu jitsu ace Oliveira very impressively in the third round. Pettis next signed to fight top contender Max Holloway who had been buzz-sawing through featherweight contenders at will for a couple of years. After the headliner of the event UFC light-heavyweight champion Dan Cormier was injured the fight between Pettis and Holloway was bumped up to the main event of UFC 206 in December 2016. The fight would now be for the UFC interim featherweight title which was strange since Jose Aldo was already the interim champion.. It was possibly an early sign that the UFC was going to strip 'undisputed' UFC lightweight and featherweight champion Conor McGregor of the 'main title' for failure to defend it in a year's time. Indeed, McGregor was soon stripped of the title. Aldo became the 'undisputed' UFC featherweight champion and would fight a unification bout with the winner of the 'interim title fight' between Pettis and Holloway. If that wasn't silly enough, at the weigh-ins Pettis missed weight by three pounds - the first fighter in nearly a decade to miss weight for a UFC title fight - and lost his dubious opportunity to fight for the UFC interim featherweight title. (He would doubtless still receive the opportunity to fight Aldo for the 'undisputed title' if he beat Holloway.) The fight was still on but only Holloway would still receive the title if he won. Fights *Anthony Pettis vs. Mike Lambrecht *Anthony Pettis vs. Mike Campbell - The fight was the WEC debut of Pettis. *Anthony Pettis vs. Danny Castillo *Anthony Pettis vs. Alex Karalexis *Anthony Pettis vs. Shane Roller - The fight was a lightweight number-one contender fight in the WEC'S lightweight division. The fight was also considered one of the most exciting fights of 2010 at that time and it was a personal candidate for Fight of the Year along with Scott Jorgensen vs. Brad Pickett from that same night. *Anthony Pettis vs. Ben Henderson - The fight was for the final defense of the WEC lightweight title with Ben Henderson defending. The fight was also to decide the number-one contender for the UFC lightweight title. The infamous Pettis kick was unleashed in this fight by Pettis himself. *Clay Guida vs. Anthony Pettis - The fight was the UFC debut of Anthony Pettis. *Anthony Pettis vs. Jeremy Stephens *Anthony Pettis vs. Joe Lauzon *Anthony Pettis vs. Donald Cerrone *Anthony Pettis vs. Gilbert Melendez - The fight was for the UFC lightweight title with Anthony Pettis defending. *Rafael Dos Anjos vs. Anthony Pettis - The fight was for the UFC lightweight title with Anthony Pettis defending. *Eddie Alvarez vs. Anthony Pettis *Edson Barboza vs. Anthony Pettis Category:UFC lightweight champions Category:Lightweight fighters Category:WEC lightweight champions Category:Featherweight fighters